Construction recruiters charge a percentage of the hire’s first-year compensation, counting base salary plus realistic bonus. The percentage is not what separates the three engagement models. What separates them is when you pay and how much of the firm’s capacity your search gets.

That difference decides how fast a seat gets filled. In the AGC of America and NCCER 2025 Craft Workforce Survey, published August 2025, 92% of construction firms that are hiring reported difficulty finding qualified workers. In a market that tight, a contingency search competing for attention against paid, prioritized searches behaves very differently from one that has been engaged to take precedence.

Written by The Birmingham Group recruiting team. TBG has placed construction leaders at the general contractor, CM, and specialty contractor level since 1967. Public figures in this guide are attributed inline to their source and survey date. Hiring observations reflect what TBG sees across active searches for contractors nationwide.

Last updated: August 2026

The three ways to engage a construction search firm

All three price off first-year compensation. The order below runs from most committed to least.

Retained Search

Our top priority. Built for an urgent seat, or a confidential replacement where the current person is still in the chair. TBG acts as your directed recruiting resource. You pay one third to initiate, one third when the candidate accepts, and the balance when they start.

Engaged Search

Takes precedence over every contingency search on our desk. A partial commitment up front buys a written search plan and prioritized capacity. You pay one third to initiate and the remaining two thirds when the candidate starts.

Contingency Search

No risk and no priority. We refer candidates who match your requirements. If you hire one of them, the fee applies. If you fill the seat through another source, nothing is due.

Which model fits your hire

Choose retained when the seat is too expensive to leave to chance. A Project Executive on $250M work, a General Superintendent carrying safety culture, or any replacement that has to stay quiet until the offer is signed. Confidentiality is the deciding factor as often as urgency.

Choose engaged when you need real priority without a full retainer. The seat is open, mobilization is coming, and you cannot afford to sit behind other firms’ searches.

Choose contingency when you are still exploring. No date pressure, several sources in play, and you would rather see who surfaces before committing.

Most contractors who call us have already tried the cheapest route first. The cost of a wrong executive hire is what usually moves them off contingency, not the fee.

How the fee is calculated

The fee is a percentage of the hire’s first-year compensation. That figure includes base salary and a realistic bonus, not a best-case bonus nobody hits. Using realistic bonus matters: it keeps the fee honest and it forces an early, useful conversation about what the market actually pays for the role.

Before you set the band, it is worth testing your number against current construction salary data for the role and region. Offers priced under market are the most common reason a search stalls, in any fee model.

We quote the percentage on the first call, against the specific role and market. It is not a menu price, and we would rather tell you the number with the scope in front of us than publish one that misleads you.

What you get in every model

The engagement model changes priority and payment timing. It does not change the work.

  • 7 to 10 days to a qualified, verified shortlist of 3 to 5 candidates.
  • 800+ construction managers placed with general contractor clients nationwide.
  • 600+ searches across 39 states plus DC since 2017 alone.
  • Since 1967. Construction leadership and nothing else, ever.

Senior construction leaders are not browsing job boards. They are running work. Reaching them is a direct outreach problem, which is the part a construction executive search process is built to solve.

Frequently asked questions

How much do construction recruiters charge?
A percentage of the hire’s first-year compensation, including base salary and realistic bonus. The percentage is quoted per search against the role and market rather than published as a flat rate.

What is the difference between retained and contingency search?
Retained means you pay in thirds across the search and it takes top priority. Contingency means you pay only if you hire someone we present, and the search carries no priority.

Is a retainer refundable if we do not hire?
Ask this on the call. It depends on the search and the reason it stopped, and it should be settled in writing before the search begins.

Can we run a confidential search while the current employee is still in the role?
Yes, and this is one of the most common reasons contractors choose retained. The search stays directed and quiet until an offer is accepted.

Can we switch models mid-search?
Usually yes. Contractors often start on contingency, watch the seat stay open through a mobilization date, and move to engaged or retained.

Does the fee change by role or sector?
The structure does not. The compensation the fee is calculated on does, which is why a chief estimator search and a project engineer search do not cost the same.

Start a search

The first conversation is about scope and market rate, not resumes. Tell us the role, the market, and the date you need someone on site, and we will tell you which model fits and what the number looks like. You can also reach our construction recruiting team directly or call 248.647.7766.

An open leadership seat is not a line item. It is schedule, margin, and the client’s confidence in you.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.